Archbishop John Ribat says while the Catholic Church recognizes that the Supreme Court ruled Sir Michael Somare be reinstated, it wants him to end the fight to get back into office.
“In all respect to him, we want him to resign,” Ribat said.
Somare remains insistent that he is the country’s rightful prime minister in charge of a minority government.
During a press conference this week, he accused Prime Minister Peter O’Neil of intimidating the governor-general, and disrespecting the constitution.
“The minority government does not want to see the country being led by members of parliament, that sheer numbers hijack the process in parliament house and trample over our constitution,” Somare said.
“The simple notion that the majority rule justifies behavior is detrimental in its simplicity.”
On Tuesday, O’Neill claimed victory in ending the political stand-off with the former prime minister.
He said while the Supreme Court ruled Somare should be reinstated as the country’s leader, parliament sees it differently.
“Parliament is not answerable to the Supreme Court. That must be clearly understood,” he said.
But a constitutional law expert said O’Neill has breached the constitution despite winning the support of the governor-general and a majority of MPs to end a week-long political crisis.
